Presented by OPI Director Janet Bell, the awards recognised three innovative products and two rising stars in the US office products industry.

For the product awards, the winners were:

Business Product of the Year: MMF Industries – TrueVue Verification Station

Innovation of the Year: 3M – Post-it Notes Extreme

People’s Choice: ACCO Brands – Swingline Stack & Shred shredder

For the dealer awards, the Young Executive of the Year went to Myers Jordan of South Carolina dealer Herald, while the Professional of the Year prize was awarded to Yancey Jones Jr of The Supply Room, which is based in Virginia. Both men were humble in their acceptance speeches, but each clearly displayed a passion for the business supplies industry.

The closing session was hosted by SPR’s Bryan Wight. Summing up the key takeaways from this year’s ABC, he urged dealers to be resilient, to embrace the changes that the industry is going through – and will have to go through – and to be active participants in these changes, not watching from the sidelines.

The closing session came after a vibrant and well-attended trade show which was also marked by the presence throughout the day of Tom Gallagher and Paul Donahue from SPR’s parent company Genuine Parts. This was an open show of support for the wholesaler ahead of what is likely to be an interesting few weeks as the future of the proposed merger with Essendant plays out.

Whatever the outcome, SPR has committed to holding ABC next year, and the 2019 show will take place from 7-10 August in San Diego (CA).